Author: Sanjiv Shukla

China appeared to backtrack on a controversial decision to lift a ban on trading tiger bones and rhinoceros horns, saying it has been postponed, state media reported on 12 November 2018. The State Council, China’s cabinet, unexpectedly announced last month that it would allow the sale of rhino and tiger products under “special circumstances”, a move … Read more China postpones lifting tiger and rhino parts ban

Unbridled consumption has decimated global wildlife, triggered a mass extinction and exhausted Earth’s capacity to accommodate humanity’s expanding appetites, conservation group WWF warned on 30 October 2018. From 1970 to 2014, a total of 60 per cent of all animals with a backbone – fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals – were wiped out by … Read more Nature pushed to the brink by runaway consumption: WWF

As the controversial killing of tigress Avni (code named T1) in the Indian state of Maharashtra kicked up a row, Women and Child Development Minister of India, Maneka Gandhi on 4 November 2018 accused Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar of ordering the “ghastly murder” of a tiger and vowed legal action after the man-eating animal … Read more Maneka Gandhi slams Maharashtra minister over tiger killing

Their enthusiasm to volunteer is spurred by lion-hearted pride; they are dogged in their devotion to Gujarat’s big cats and humbled by their responsibility to conserve the species. They are the common people of the state, members of communities whose work is vital for the survival of Asiatic lions in Gir. It is mainly their … Read more The warriors who helped save the Asiatic lions of Gir

In Assam’s Manas National Park smaller carnivores, mainly belonging to cat and civet family, have adapted to hunt in dark nights to avoid predation by larger carnivores, says an ongoing study of Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute if India (WII). The research that will conclude next year outlines how moon illumination influences mammal activity in the protected … Read more To avoid large predators smaller carnivores adapt to hunt in moonless nights

Four months after tigress ST-14 was spotted with two cubs, there is more good news from Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar (Rajasthan, India). Tigress ST-12 was spotted with three cubs on 31 August 2018 – a first for Sariska after it was repopulated with tigers from Ranthambore, said reserve officials. STR chief conservator of … Read more Tigress with three cubs spotted in Sariska, population reaches 17

The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) will soon be under complete drone camera surveillance, DTR field director Ramesh Pandey told PTI. Work for the surveillance programme, which is being called e-bird project, has already begun. A pilot operation was conducted on International Tiger Day, July 29, where drone cameras were used to monitor rhinos in the … Read more Dudhwa Tiger Reserve to be under drone camera surveillance

The Uttarakhand forest department will soon come up with guidelines for elephant safaris in buffer areas of tiger reserves, according to chief wildlife warden DVS Khati. In the absence of guidelines, the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which was allowing elephant safaris stopped them in 2017 after a wild tusker attacked two elephants of the forest department. … Read more Soon, guidelines for elephant safaris in tiger reserves in Uttarakhand

The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in India has called for an intensive search for black panthers after one was recorded by a Belgian diplomat and his family at Shivanzari in Kolsa range of the reserve on Tuesday (22 May 2018). “It is something unique as black panthers are melanistic and are generally found in evergreen forests … Read more Rare black panther spotted in Maharashtra’s tiger reserve

Good news continues to trickle out from Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. Forest officials have reported spotting two more tiger cubs of tigress ST-10 on Friday. With these cubs, the total strength of tigers in Sariska now touched 13. Two cubs, around 3-4 months old, of tigress ST-2, were spotted in Sariska on July 20 … Read more Two more tiger cubs spotted in Sariska

Keeping in mind the frail intelligence network in the state on wildlife-related crimes, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has decided to train forest officers as ‘master trainers’ on intelligence gathering and these officers will further train other staff in their respective states. The bureau will also train defense personnel deployed at base camps on … Read more Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to train officers in intelligence gathering

The beating up of a leopard cub to death in Bajpur has once again raised the issue of crowd management in such situations. The leopard had attacked an old man working in the fields, which enraged the local people and they attacked the leopard with sticks and weapons. The animal succumbed to the injuries. Last … Read more Leopard cub’s killing in Bajpur puts focus on mob frenzy

Hundreds of snow leopards are being killed every year across the mountains of central Asia, threatening the already endangered cat, according to a new report. There are as few as 4,000 of the solitary and elusive cat remaining and numbers have fallen by a fifth in the last 16 years. But between 220 and 450 … Read more Hundreds of snow leopards being killed every year : TRAFFIC

In an attempt to save its endangered state animal, the wildlife wing of the Himachal Pradesh (HP) forest department has said it will restart the project of breeding elusive snow leopard at Himalayan Nature Park at Kufri, 18km from state’s capital Shimla. The state government recently shot off a proposal to the Central Zoo Authority … Read more Snow leopard breeding program to restart in Himachal Pradesh

About two months after tigress ST-5 went missing from the Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Rajasthan (India) and intensive combing operations were taken up to search the big cat, the forest department on Saturday said that the tigress is likely to be dead and an FIR will be filed soon. “For investigation purposes we are … Read more Tigress (ST-5) may be dead, says Forest dept

A team of investigators is using forensic science and behavioural analysis to identify which of two leopards, now locked up at Van Vihar national park, killed three children in the latter half of March 2018 just beyond the outskirts of Bhopal, the state capital of Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (MP). Samples of excreta and … Read more Death in the wild: On trail of a spotted killer

One hundred and seven years after a tiger’s presence was last recorded in Jungalmahal (West Bengal, India), a big cat has strayed into the area. For a fortnight now, an army of Forest Department and police officials have been scouring the dense forest, armed with tranquiliser guns, cages with live baits, binoculars, search lights and … Read more Tiger seen in Junglemahal after a century

For the first time, the district wildlife department has recommended that the Kherki Daula toll plaza be shifted to Panchgaon, instead of the proposed Sehrawan, due to presence of a high density of wild animals in the surrounding areas. In a comprehensive RTI (Right to Information) response, the department said the area around the proposed site … Read more Toll plaza to jeopardize leopard corridor disclosed in RTI

The United States has moved to allow hunters to import big-game trophies, including elephant tusks and lion hides, acquired in certain African countries with approvals granted on an individual basis. The decision, reported in a memorandum published last week by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, overturns an Obama-era ban on some trophies and contradicts … Read more U.S. Lifts Ban on Some Lion and Elephant Trophies

As the snow leopard population across the world dwindles, tribal Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh (HP) in India offers a ray of hope with a forest guard capturing images of a snow leopard having two cubs. This suggests an increase in their population. There are 25 to 30 snow leopards in Kibber wildlife sanctuary of … Read more 25 to 30 snow leopards in Kibber wildlife sanctuary of Himachal Pradesh

Environmentalists and wildlife experts said they were alarmed by a new study which has reported 93 leopard deaths — a very high number — from across the country in just the first two months of 2018. Most of the big cats were felled by poachers for their skin and other body parts. Uttarakhand topped the … Read more 93 leopards dead in first two months of 2018

In November 2010, the first “Tiger Summit” in St Petersburg, Russia, endorsed a Global Tiger Recovery Programme aimed at reversing the rapid decline of tigers, and doubling their numbers by 2022. India was one of the 13 tiger range countries that participated in the gathering, at which leaders committed to “drawing up action plans to … Read more Governments not doing enough to save tigers of the world

Veterinarians have been left baffled after a female lion suddenly sprouted a mane at an American zoo. Bridget, an 18-year-old African lioness living at Oklahoma City Zoo began to develop the usually-masculine trait in March last year. The cause of the shaggy growth around the lion’s jaw is so far unexplained, although zoo staff said they … Read more Scientists baffled after a lioness mysteriously sprouts mane